Chapter 27

Stefan’s patience was wearing thin.

“Just spit it out, what’s the hold-up?”

“After careful data analysis on every platform, we’ve arrived at the conclusion that most netizens feel upset for the unfairness that Mrs. Hunt has faced.”

“If you were to obtain Mrs. Hunt’s forgiveness, and show the public how your relationship has improved, I think we have a good chance of changing public opinion toward you,” Rachel explained while looking away from Stefan.

She knew just how prideful her boss was. In fact, it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that everyone perceived him as the ruler of Beach City. Now, they were asking for him to grovel before a woman he had abandoned, i It just didn’t seem possible.

“No.” i Stefan was very straightforward with his answer. “Since those netizens love wasting their time on gossip, then so be it.”

‘They are naive if they think they’re able to take H Group down,” Stefan scoffed haughtily.

H Group has branched out into various industries, including real estate, fashion, consumer electronics, car manufacturing, food & beverage, and they have recently been making moves toward the arms industry as well.

What Stefan said was true, that the netizens had no power in taking them down.

“Just hire more people to delete these posts if there are too many!” Stefan ordered coldly. “I’ll give you three days. I don’t care what method you use, but I don’t want to see anything regarding the live stream by then.

“Oh…” Rachel had no choice but to accept this task. “I’ll… discuss this with the PR team again. I suppose we can just increase our budget on public relations.”

It was obvious that this solution wasn’t going to be effective, since it didn’t solve the crux of the issue.

However, their CEO’s pride simply didn’t allow any other way.

Suddenly, just as Rachel was about to leave, Stefan called out to her.

’Yes, Mr. Hunt?”

The man pointed to his coffee mug with a frown.

’What have you been doing to my coffee lately? It’s disgusting compared to before.”

Stefan had a habit of drinking coffee to relieve stress. Although he wasn’t an expert, he could still tell there was a difference between today’s coffee and the ones he had before.

He missed how his coffee used to taste.

“Mr. Hunt, it’s likely because of the change in coffee beans.”

“Well change it back!” Stefan ordered sternly.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible…” Rachel replied honestly. “Mrs. Hunt was the one who gave us those coffee beans before. She’d always personally deliver a large jar of it to the office.” 1 “Unlike instant coffee, we used to grind it fresh every time we make your coffee. I presume that’s why it tasted so amazing.” i “But we’ve used the last of it recently, and Mrs. Hunt hasn’t given any in a long time. We’ve tried looking for the same brand, but we just couldn’t… so …” i Rachel then shrugged helplessly, i “Everheart was the one who gave that?”

“Mm-hmm, didn’t you know, Mr. Hunt?” Rachel found an opportunity and mustered up all her courage to tell Stefan everything.

“Mrs. Hunt was the one who secretly supplied your coffee for the past few years.” i “Not just that, your succulent plant, that favorite cake you gave so much praise to, and that ashtray you refuse to replace… they were all gifts from Mrs. Hunt.” 1 “Since she won’t let us talk about her giving all these gifts, we secretly gave her the nickname ‘Lady Char’, short for charity that is.”

‘We really like Mrs. Hunt, she’s just so nice… That’s why all of us were willing to risk our necks when you attacked her that day. We had to stop you no matter what…”

Stefan remained silent, lost in thought as he glanced at the ashtray on his desk, the succulent by his window, then the cute cushion over at the sofa…

Mixed emotions started rising in his chest. He initially thought that they were just married strangers, yet she had already left her mark on his life, a mark that he can no longer erase.

“Mr. Hunt, I have to say this, even if you threaten to fire me. Mrs. Hunt really does love you, you shouldn’t have hurt her like that.”

“PR disaster aside, I feel like you owe her a proper apology..”

Stefan remained silent. Up until this point, he wasn’t aware of her feelings for him, which meant that his ‘cheating’ did hurt her.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading back to work now, Mr. Hunt.” Rachel calmly walked to the door.

“Just… one more thing. I’m actually your fan too. I’m one of the moderators for the forum named ‘Hunt my Everheart’!”

“All of our members are so talented. There was one fanfic in particular that touched everyone’s hearts!

It’s such a shame that the author stopped posting long ago!”

After Rachel left, Stefan carried on his work as usual, pretending as if nothing had happened. However, his curiosity got the best of him and he looked up the forum on his own.

He was completely stunned.